Desperate Housewives actor Steven Culp has joined the cast of Grey's Anatomy.

The 56-year-old will play a recurring role on the ABC medical drama's ninth season, Deadline reports.

His character Dr Parker is described as a "top dog doctor" - Culp's casting comes in the wake of several cast departures, with Chyler Leigh (Dr Lexie Grey), Kim Raver (Teddy Altman) and Eric Dane (Dr Mark Sloan) all having quit the series.

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Culp played Rex Van de Kamp on Desperate Housewives between 2004 and 2012 and recently appeared in episodes of Drop Dead Diva, Longmire and Perception.

Other stars signed up for roles on Grey's Anatomy include Camilla Luddington (True Blood, Californication) and Tina Majorino (Veronica Mars, Napoleon Dynamite).

The series returns to ABC in the US on Thursday, September 27 at 9/8c. In the UK, the show airs on Sky Living.